Trolley-harp.



C. WETJEN.

TROLLEY HARP.

APPLICATION FILED APR-1.1912. RENEWED APR. 1,1915.

1,1 59,45 1. Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

L a F CHARLES V ET'JEN. OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

rnoLLnY-rranr.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lt'ov. $5, idifa.

Application filed April 1, 1912, Serial No. 687,644. Renewed April 1, 1315. Serial Ho. 18,532.

To all ill/tom it may concern.

lie it known that L (ll-mamas WETJEN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in New York, in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Harps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to trolley harps for electric railroads and has for its object to provide a trolley harp with safety-devices which will prevent the trolley from jumping off the line wire.

A specific embodiment of my invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side-elevation of my improved trolley harp in position on the line wire, Fig. 2 is a front-elevation, Fig. 3 is a top-view, 4 is a detail showing a spring-pressed retaining pin, with parts in section, and Fig. 5 is a side-elevation of said pin, *ith part of its carrier.

The line wire is designated by A, and B is one of the customary supports or hangers carrying said wire. At the upper end of the trolley pole C is secured the trolley harp D, this being a forked frame carrying the current-taking device, such as the trolley wheel E journaled at E. The side members of the trolley harp are continued upwardly beyond the uppermost point of the wheel E, and therefore beyond the level of the wire A, forming guards D, so that the latter is confined laterally by the side members of the harp D, thus preventing the trolley from jumping 05 the wire sidewise.

In order to guard against the possibility of the trolley becoming separated from the wire by a downward movement followed by a lateral movement, the guards D are provided with horizontal extensions D These extensions are provided on their inner faces with a series of lateral sockets D arranged in pairs and forwardly inclined at oblique angles. These sockets are provided with stops D in the form of a shoulder or otherwise and contain expansive spiral springs Gr. Yielding pins F are movable in these sockets and are provided at their inner ends with heads F which engage said shoulders and are engaged by said springs and at their outer ends with tapered points F which engage the trolley wire when the trolley swings into or out of operative relation therewith. These pins are normally thrust outward from their sockets so that the pins of each pair, one on each side, meet at their pointed ends above the trolley wheel and trolley wire. Three such pairs of pins are shown in the drawings, inclined or oblique. These pins are inclined to the axis of the trolley wheel E, the inner ends of the pins F being farther forward than their outer portions, with respect to the direction of travel. All pins F carried by the same side member of the trolley harp D are parallel,

but the two pins of the same pair converge forwardly. Preferably the inner ends of the retaining pins F are tapered or pointed for facilitating the clearing and replacing of the trolley-harp on the wire. As shown, the retaining pins are mounted to slide in the side members of the trolley harp D, and are pressed inwardly by springs G. The converging arrangement of the pins of the same pair insures their proper meeting under the influence of the springs G.

Additional wheels H journaled at the forward end of each side member of the harp 1), about axes H parallel to the axis E of the trolley wheel, are provided for the purpose of guiding the trolley harp past the metallic contact-plates on bridges and other overhead structures under the cross wire A.

It will be evident that the retaining pins F, projecting above the wire A, will prevent any downward movement of the harp suflicient to bring the upper ends of the side members of the harp below the wire A. The elastic mounting of the pins, particularly in connection with the tapering of their ends, enables the pins to yield backward readily when the trolley is swung forward and upward to apply it to the wire or lowered for being removed therefrom, but a downward movement thereof includes a backward swing which tends to close the pins together when they are brought in contact with the wire.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the nature of my inven tion, as set forth in the appended claims:

I claim:

1. A trolley harp comprising a forked frame, a contact wheel journaled therein, side guards extending above said contact wheel and provided with parallel horizontal extensions, said extensions being provided with a series of sockets having shoulders and ing of the trolley into and out of operative position.

2. A trolley harp comprising a forked frame, a contact Wheel journaled therein, side guards extending above said contact Wheel and provided With parallel horizontal extensions, said extensions being provided with a series of sockets having shoulders and disposed in pairs, the sockets of each pair being opposite each other and obliquely inclined one to the other in. forward direction, a series of pins arranged in pairs and movable at their inner ends in said sockets, being provided With heads which engage said shoulders, the pins of each pair pros jecting beyond said sockets at oblique angles in forward direction, and springs in said Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

